History of Pashtuns-Updates And Discussions

[Mian Babban]

The Indophile British historian (or story-teller) William Dalrymple is writing poor history (or should i say garbage) about Ahmad Shah Abdali in his newly released book "Koh-i-Noor. In his book he says ;

"From early on in his reign, his face (Ahmad Shah Abdali's) began to be eaten away by what the Afghan sources call a ‘gangrenous ulcer’, possibly leprosy, syphilis or some form of tumour. Even as he was winning his greatest victory at Panipat, Ahmad Shah’s disease had already consumed his nose, and a diamond-studded substitute was attached in its place. As his army grew to a horde of 120,000, and as his empire expanded ever wider, so did the tumour, ravaging his brain, spreading to his chest and throat and incapacitating his limbs.......By 1772, maggots were dropping from the upper part of Ahmad Shah’s rotten nose into his mouth and his food as he ate "

In a video lecture, he says Ahmad Shah Abdali looked like a typical movie villain at the battle of Panipat , 1761, and wore a golden mask to hide his face which was eaten away by cancer, and that he looked like 'Robocop !

There is not a single 18th century source which says that nose of Ahmad Shah Abdali was missing at the battle of Panipat and that he was wearing a bejeweled mask to hide his face in those years. All sources say that Ahmad Shah Abdali had contracted the cancer or some other disease a few years before his death in June 1773 AD. And the rubbish of maggots dropping from his nose and him eating it in his meal , was invented by Jadunath Sarkar which was copied by Ganda Singh and now by Dalrymple.

The Mughal portrait of Ahmad Shah Abdali of circa 1757 AD, depicted with intact face

 

[django]

@Mian Babban Any info on the origin of the Paktye mentioned by Herodotus, where they likely Pashtun as some are asserting or just another Indo-Aryan tribe from ancient KPK.

 

[Mian Babban]

@Mian Babban Any info on the origin of the Paktye mentioned by Herodotus, where they likely Pashtun as some are asserting or just another Indo-Aryan tribe from ancient KPK.

I will be honest with you, i am ill-knowledged about ancient history. I am mostly invested in medieval history

 

[django]

I will be honest with you, i am ill-knowledged about ancient history. I am mostly invested in medieval history

No problem.

 

[Talwar e Pakistan]

@Mian Babban

What do you think of the Kingdom of Gandhara. Does it have any connections with the Pashtuns?

 

[Mian Babban]

@Mian Babban

What do you think of the Kingdom of Gandhara. Does it have any connections with the Pashtuns?

I dont know. May be. @Narcissist is better equipped with an answer on this matter.

 

[Narcissist]

@Mian Babban

What do you think of the Kingdom of Gandhara. Does it have any connections with the Pashtuns?

Very much so. Different dynasties ruled at different times. They are ancestors of Pashtuns.

 

[ghazi52]

1878 Picture shows Punjabi Sikh soldiers of British empire holding today's FATA tribesmen as prisoners of war.
The Sikh "Dal Khalsa" or Sikh army of Sikh empire fought many wars with Durrani empire of Afghanistan between 1751 to 1837 and conquered the areas today in Pakistani FATA and KPK.
Durranis even lost Peshawar to the Sikh onslaught. The local tribes could only do some insurgency against sikhs but never had total control or a government of their own.
Sikh Ruler Ranjit singh died in 1839 and the demise of Sikh empire started. in 1848 the British conquered the Sikh empire and took over the areas ruled by the Sikh.
However in 1839 British also conquered Kabul in Afghanistan and were repelled by Afghans. But Afghans could never conquer back the areas they lost to Sikhs and later inherited by the British.
The Afghan rulers constantly provoke the today's FATA tribes to rise against the British and join Afghanistan which cause two more Anglo-Afghan wars in 1878 and 1919.
Both times the English had large numbers of Sikh soldiers and went all the way to Kabul and both times Afghan king had to make peace treaty with the British.
So that's about 170 years of wars between Afghan Pushtoons and Punjabi sikhs.
Some ignorant Pakistani Pushtoons and Afghani as a whole still keep that grudge on ethnic grounds and let it out on "Muslim Punjabis" of Pakistan despite the fact that they fought Sikh Punjabi not Muslim Punjabi. The hateful term "Daal Khor" is remnant of Pushtoon Afghan wars when most sikhs used to be vegetarians.
Muslim Punjabis were killed and plundered in their millions by Sikhs during 1947 partition and had to migrate.

 

[mkiyani]

1878 Picture shows Punjabi Sikh soldiers of British empire holding today's FATA tribesmen as prisoners of war.
The Sikh "Dal Khalsa" or Sikh army of Sikh empire fought many wars with Durrani empire of Afghanistan between 1751 to 1837 and conquered the areas today in Pakistani FATA and KPK.
Durranis even lost Peshawar to the Sikh onslaught. The local tribes could only do some insurgency against sikhs but never had total control or a government of their own.
Sikh Ruler Ranjit singh died in 1839 and the demise of Sikh empire started. in 1848 the British conquered the Sikh empire and took over the areas ruled by the Sikh.
However in 1839 British also conquered Kabul in Afghanistan and were repelled by Afghans. But Afghans could never conquer back the areas they lost to Sikhs and later inherited by the British.
The Afghan rulers constantly provoke the today's FATA tribes to rise against the British and join Afghanistan which cause two more Anglo-Afghan wars in 1878 and 1919.
Both times the English had large numbers of Sikh soldiers and went all the way to Kabul and both times Afghan king had to make peace treaty with the British.
So that's about 170 years of wars between Afghan Pushtoons and Punjabi sikhs.
Some ignorant Pakistani Pushtoons and Afghani as a whole still keep that grudge on ethnic grounds and let it out on "Muslim Punjabis" of Pakistan despite the fact that they fought Sikh Punjabi not Muslim Punjabi. The hateful term "Daal Khor" is remnant of Pushtoon Afghan wars when most sikhs used to be vegetarians.
Muslim Punjabis were killed and plundered in their millions by Sikhs during 1947 partition and had to migrate.

Thats y pashtoon should not feel proud and their cast system also.. Islam has no place for proud and caste.. most of my fellow pashtoon or even baloch think they are upper class than any other people of Pakistan... this should be changed we are Muslim.. and also human first... Pakistani first plz people... especially baluchis whenever i asked them where u from they say we are baluchi from baluchistan... Pakistan first..

 

[Mian Babban]

Arakan (the land of Rohingya Muslims) under Afghan rule in 16th century

http://www.barmazid.com/2016/12/arakan-burma-under-afghan-rule.html

 

[Pakistani E]

Arakan (the land of Rohingya Muslims) under Afghan rule in 16th century

http://www.barmazid.com/2016/12/arakan-burma-under-afghan-rule.html

Good work as always for digging up this stuff. I always look forward to reading your posts in Pakistani History section. Keep going.

 

[Hamza913]

@Mian Babban

What do you think of the Kingdom of Gandhara. Does it have any connections with the Pashtuns?

Asalamu Alaikum

They'd probably have some relations with them, but the main descendants of Gandhara would be the Hindko people as well as north Punjabis.

Ghurid Sultanate

They were a powerful Sultanate that ruled from Iran to Bangladesh at their peak, building many magnificent structures such as the Minaret of Jam. Their major cities were Lahore, Firozkoh, Herat and Ghazni. One of their Sultan's (Muhammad Ghur) is buried in Pakistan in a magnificent tomb:

They are also the ancestors of the Sur Pashtuns

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/ghurids-were-pashtuns.311278/

https://www.britannica.com/place/Ghurid-sultanate

Khiliji Sultanate

They were Turks who had assimilated into the Pashtun fold, and are the ancestors of the Ghiliji Pashtuns (hence the almost identical names). They ruled over most of Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, as well as large portions of northern Hindustan and small portions of Afghanistan. Their major cities were Delhi and Lahore. The most notable achievement of this empire is that they defeated the Mongols.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Khalji-dynasty

 

[Hamza913]

The Battles of Tarain were two battles fought between the Ghurid Sultanate under Muhammad Ghauri and the Chahamana dynasty under Prithviraj Chauhan, near the town of Tarain in Haryana, Hindustan.

The belligerents involved

The Ghurid Sultanate was a Muslim empire that centred around Afghanistan/Pakistan, with it's major cities being Firozkoh, Herat, Ghazni and Lahore, but it also expanded to include much of Central Asia, Iran and (eventually) Hindustan. The dynasty itself was Pashtun, with the Sur tribe of Pashtuns being their descendants today. Their army and administration, however, were vastly multi-ethnic, including (but not limited to) Persians, Baluchis, Turks, Punjabis and (obviously) Pashtuns, who's descendants would mostly be in Afghanistan/Pakistan today. The Sultanate was also highly Persianised in terms of culture. At this point in time, they were ruled by the Sultan Muhammad Ghauri, who is buried in Pakistan (Jhelum district to be precise).

The Chahamana dynasty was a Hindu Rajput dynasty that centred around Rajasthan, with it's major cities including places such as Ajmer and Samhbar, but it had also expanded to include large portions of other territories in north-west Hindustan. Whilst the dynasty themselves were Rajput, their military and administration would have also included many other tribes/ethnic groups from north-west Hindustan. The descendants of this dynasty would be the Chauhan Rajputs of today, with their workforce being the ancestors of many people across north-west Hindustan.

Chahamana dynasty coins:

The prelude

Prior to the battles, Muhammad Ghauri had managed to launch minor ghazwa's (AKA military expeditions) into north-west Hindustan, with plans for further ghazwa's into Hindustan to take much larger portions of the land. This was done in order weaken nearby threats to his Sultanate and to keep his Sultanate with a steady supply of wealth from these conquered lands as well as facilitate the spread of Islam in the region. Since these small portions of north-west Hindustan existed on the frontier of Prithviraj's territory, he marched with a large army to meet Muhammad Ghauri at Tarain, in an attempt to halt Muslim expansion into Hindustan. The exact size and composition of both army's isn't entirely known, but what is known is that Muhammad Ghauri did bring a larger army with him than Prithviraj Chauhan did, with both sides also bringing plenty of horses and elephants with them.

The first battle

The Muslim army started the battle by firing large quantities of arrows at the Hindustani army's centre. The Hindustani army then responded with a viscous counter-attack against the front and two sides of the Muslim army, completely crippling them. Muhammad Ghauri also lost in one to one combat against Govind Tai, the brother of Prithviraj Chauhan. This resulted in the Muslims retreating with their wounded leader, and the decisive victory of the Hindustani army who then went on to recapture the frontier Chahamana territory taken by Muhammad Ghauri.

The interlude

Humiliated by this major defeat, Muhammad Ghauri quickly made preparations for another ghazwa into Hindustan in order to avenge his defeat at the hands of Prithviraj. Whilst in Lahore, Muhammad Ghauri proceeded to send an envoy to Prithviraj, demanding him to submit or face the consequences, but Prithviraj refused to comply. Anticipating another attack, Prithviraj Chauhan quickly prepared an even bigger army than before to finally put an end to Muhammad Ghauri's antics. The two army's then proceeded to meet in the same place as the first, near the town of Tarain, with Muhammad Ghauri bringing roughly 20,000 troops as per modern estimates and 120,000 troops as per historical references, and Prithviraj Chauhan bringing roughly 100,000 troops as per modern estimates and 300,000 troops as per historical references. Both sides also brought plenty of horses and elephants with them, but with Prithviraj Chauhan having more of both.

The second battle

The Muslims decided to avoid such a confrontation by breaking themselves into six units. Four of these units were sent to attack the Hindustanis at their rear and two sides, whilst the fifth engaged them directly. Muhammad Ghauri then ordered his fifth unit to retreat, hoping to lure the Hindustani army. The bait was successful, with the Hindustani army chasing the fifth unit until the sixth unit appeared, using heavy cavalry to break into the Hindustani army's centre. The Hindustani army then panicked and fled the battlefield, with even Prithviraj Chauhan himself abandoning his elephant for a horse in an attempt to escape, but he was caught by the Muslim army, as was his brother Govind Tai. As a result, the Muslim army had attained victory over the Hindustani army, and Muhammad Ghauri had avenged his previous defeat.

The aftermath

Prithviraj Chauhan and his brother Govind Tai had been promptly executed after the battle was over, and Muhammad Ghauri was now able to launch further ghazwa's into Hindustan, eventually extending his Sultanate all the way to the Bengal. What made these ghazwa's different to previous ones conducted by the likes of Mahmud Ghaznavi was that the Muslims now permanently occupied large portions of Hindustan rather than simply raiding it every once in a while. It was these conquests that then laid the foundations for further Muslim rule across Hindustan for the next several hundred years, through dynasties such as the Khilijis, Mughals or Mysoreans.

 

[ghazi52]

Kabuli Gate, Peshawar, 1910

 

[ghazi52]

The Northamptonshire Regiment on the march in Waziristan, 1936.